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Tuesday, 24 July 2012

Install and Configure Ubuntu 12.04 Desktop

Install and Configure Ubuntu 12.04 Desktop

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, also known as
the Precise Pangolin, arrived on April 26th, 2012 and is the 16th release of
the Ubuntu operating system.

Even if the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
operating system includes a smarter installer, we've created the following
tutorial to teach both Linux newcomers and existing Ubuntu users how to install
the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS operating system on their personal computer.

This tutorial is also addressed
to people who have just heard about Ubuntu, those who have never installed
Ubuntu before and want to test it, but don't know how!

The following guide will make
things very simple for you, but if you get stuck somewhere in the middle of the
installation and you need help, do not hesitate to use our commenting system at
the end of the article!

Requirements:

You will need the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Desktop ISO image
that corresponds to your hardware architecture (i386 or amd64), and that can be
downloaded from HERE.

NOTE: In this tutorial, I am
using VMware Workstation to host my Ubuntu 12.04 as a Virtual Machine.
The install process remains the same. Just, you wont have to burn the ISO image
on a physical disk. You can mount the ISO to VMware Workstation and simply
power on the VM when required.

If you are using a Physical machine to perform this task, then once the download is over, burn
the ISO image with your favourite CD/DVD burning application (Nero, CDBurnerXP,
Roxio) on a blank CD at 8x speed and simply boot the physical machine with the CD Drive.

Once you boot, wait for the CD to load...

In a couple of
minutes you will see the wallpaper and the installation wizard. Select your
language and click the "Install Ubuntu" button to continue...

Preparing
to install Ubuntu

Make sure you have all the listed requirements. Optionally, you can choose to
download updates while installing and/or install third party software, such as
MP3 support.

Be aware, though, that if you select those options, the entire
installation process will be longer!

Allocate
drive space

At this screen you have various options:

1. Install Ubuntu 12.04 LTS alongside (other operating systems)

- Choose this option ONLY if you have another OS (e.g. Windows XP) and you want
a dual boot system. You can choose which operating system you want each time
the computer starts up.

NOTE: Remember that, after
the installation, the Windows boot loader will be overwritten by the Ubuntu
boot loader!

2. Upgrade Ubuntu x.x to 12.04 LTS

- Choose this option ONLY if you have another Ubuntu OS (e.g. Ubuntu 11.10) and
you want to upgrade it to Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. Your personal files will be saved,
but you will have to reinstall most of your packages. The general system
settings will be erased!

3. Erase and use the entire disk (Erase Ubuntu
x.x and reinstall)

- Choose this option if you want to delete your existing operating system, or
the hard drive is already empty and you want to let the installer automatically
partition the hard drive for you. This is the option recommended for all users,
especially those who want a machine with a single operating system on it.

4. Something else (advanced)

- This option is recommended ONLY for advanced users, to create special
partitions or format the hard drive with other filesystems than the default
one. But it can also be used to create a /home partition, which is very useful
in case you reinstall the whole system.

We are going to create our own custom partitions for this tutorial. Select "Something else" to get started.

Make sure that the selected hard drive is the right one. /dev/sda is the
first physical hard drive. Similarly /dev/sdb would be the second hard drive in your machine.

So, make sure that you know which is the one you want to format! Otherwise, you
will lose ALL YOUR DATA on that hard drive

Select Continue to begin the Format of the Disk.

With
the "free space" entry selected, click on the "Add" button.

In
the new window, type 3048 (approx 3 GB) in the "New partition size in megabytes"
field and select the "Ext3 File System" option from the "Use as:"
drop down list.

Select the mount point in a similar way. For this partition, we are applying it to the "/" (root)

Click the OK button and, in a few seconds, you'll notice a
"/" line with the specified size created.

This
is how your partition table should loo once you have created the / Partition.

In a similar way, you can create custom sized partitions for boot, swap, opt etc partitions as shown below:

WARNING:
Be
aware that all the data on the selected hard drive or partition will be ERASED
and IRRECOVERABLE.

EXTREMLY IMPORTANT: Don't forget to choose where GRUB will be installed, from
the "Device for boot loader installation" drop-down box, before you
hit the "Install Now" button.

Click the "Install Now" button to continue with the installation...

At this
point the hard drive will be erase and partitioned, the CD data will be copied
to the hard drive, and you can relax and continue to input the following
required information.

Where are you?

This screen will feature a map of the Earth. Upon the selection of your current
location, the time for the final system will adjust accordingly.

You can try to
guess you exact location with the mouse on the map, or just type the town in
the designated field. Click the "Forward" button after you have
selected your desired location...

Keyboard
layout

On this screen, you will be able to choose a desired keyboard layout. But the
default automatic selection should work for most of you.

You can also click the
"Figure Out Keyboard Layout" button for better recognition of your
keyboard's layout. Click the "Forward" button when you have finished
with the keyboard configuration...

Who
are you?

On this screen, you must do exactly what the title says. Fill in the fields
with your real name, the name of the computer (automatically generated, but can
be overwritten), the name you want to use to log in on your Ubuntu OS (also
known as the "username," which will be required to log in to the
system), and the password.

Also at this step, there's an option called "Log in automatically."
If you check it, you will automatically be logged in to the Ubuntu desktop.

Other option, called "Encrypt my home folder," will encrypt your
Ubuntu installation. Click the "Forward" button to continue...

At this
point the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) operating system will be
installed...

After
approximately 10 to 15 minutes (depending on your computer's specs), a pop-up
window will appear, notifying you that the installation is complete, and you'll
need to restart the computer in order to use the newly installed Ubuntu
operating system. Click the "RestartNow" button...

Remove the Installation Media and press Enter Key when prompted at restart

At the
login screen, just input your password and click the little "Log In"
button or hit Enter to log in..